1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of surface bonding and relates to manually operable apparatus for serial transfer of intact adhesive-backed pieces from a flexile backing on which they are carried and onto discrete planar articles. The apparatus initiates transfer of a said piece by applying a bending action the portion of the backing to which one said piece is laminated. For example, the pieces and backing may be a computer-generated set of mailing labels on tractor-feed paper, and the planar articles may be envelopes to which the labels are to be affixed.
2. Description of Related Prior Art.
The prior art related to this invention includes structural elements and operational aspects, as noted, in these U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,648,930, Method Of Separating Labels From A Carrier Strip, discloses automated separation of labels from a sprocket-driven strip moving contiguously as to a planar surface with a V-shaped recess. 4,053,345, Apparatus For Printing And Applying Pressure Sensitive Labels, is representative of label applicators with a hand-held handle and an acutator disposed at the handle whereby small pressure-sensitive labels carried by a strip thereon, such as price tags, are delaminated and transferred to other surfaces. 2,331,019, Label Dispenser, teaches a manual, crank-turned device with label-separating means comprising opposed edges meeting at an angle. 2,276,297, Label Dispenser, is another manual, cranked device and features a sharp label-separating edge. 2,276,296, Label Dispenser, discloses still another manual dispenser which enables a label to be peeled from a strip as the strip is drawn over a smooth guiding edge at a 90.degree. angle from the path defined by the edge.